laurenjodi's review against another edition
3.0
Heart of Evil
Rating: 3 Stars
When a man is found murdered following a civil war reenactment, Ashley Donegal seeks the help of an old flame, Jake Mallory, a member of the FBI's paranormal investigative unit. It soon becomes clear that a madman with a grudge is on the rampage and Ashley and her family are his target.
The idea of a killer with a historic score to settle is interesting and constitutes a strong foundation for the story. Nevertheless, the plot is poorly executed. The prologue provides no preliminary information and could easily have been another chapter. The division into chapters is problematic in the sense that the narrative begins from the POV of one character and switches to another in the same chapter with no warning, which can be confusing at times.
The characters are like cardboard cutouts and their characterization lacks substance. Even though the romantic couple has more of a connection than the pair in the first book; there is still a serious absence of chemistry in their relationship. The secondary characters are not sufficiently developed and the suspects are merely candidates for a police line-up. Very few clues are provided for the reader to follow, and the villain is ultimately revealed after everyone else is either killed or has an alibi. I would like to point out that I enjoyed the plot in this book more than in the first.
Ms. Graham has many fans out there. Unfortunately, I am beginning to suspect that her writing is not for me as I do not enjoy having the story spoon-fed to me as if I am unable to follow a narrative thread.
Heart of Evil is scheduled for release on June 28, 2011. An advance copy of the book was provided to me for review by the publisher and NetGalley.com.
Rating: 3 Stars
When a man is found murdered following a civil war reenactment, Ashley Donegal seeks the help of an old flame, Jake Mallory, a member of the FBI's paranormal investigative unit. It soon becomes clear that a madman with a grudge is on the rampage and Ashley and her family are his target.
The idea of a killer with a historic score to settle is interesting and constitutes a strong foundation for the story. Nevertheless, the plot is poorly executed. The prologue provides no preliminary information and could easily have been another chapter. The division into chapters is problematic in the sense that the narrative begins from the POV of one character and switches to another in the same chapter with no warning, which can be confusing at times.
The characters are like cardboard cutouts and their characterization lacks substance. Even though the romantic couple has more of a connection than the pair in the first book; there is still a serious absence of chemistry in their relationship. The secondary characters are not sufficiently developed and the suspects are merely candidates for a police line-up. Very few clues are provided for the reader to follow, and the villain is ultimately revealed after everyone else is either killed or has an alibi. I would like to point out that I enjoyed the plot in this book more than in the first.
Ms. Graham has many fans out there. Unfortunately, I am beginning to suspect that her writing is not for me as I do not enjoy having the story spoon-fed to me as if I am unable to follow a narrative thread.
Heart of Evil is scheduled for release on June 28, 2011. An advance copy of the book was provided to me for review by the publisher and NetGalley.com.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Read for Fun/June is Audiobook Month/June 2012 Series Read!
Overall Rating: 4.25
Story Rating: 4.00
Character Rating: 4.50
Audio Rating(Not part of the overall rating): 4.50
First thought when finished: I am really enjoying the Krewe of Hunters! Plus, this one is set in New Orleans!
What I Loved: Anytime you even hint that you are going to have historic re-enactments tied in with a murder mystery--you pretty much have me interested. I love that Heart of Evil weaves in historic events with a present day murder investigation. Throw in the hot chemistry between Jake and Ashley and a very fun cast of characters, this was just a downright good read!!
What I Liked: The Donegal Plantation was a great setting for Heart of Evil. It had ghosts, graveyard, swamp, and a vastness that made you feel like you had stepped back in time. I felt like the plantation itself was a character in the story. I loved Grandpa and M. Donegal--both were strong men and great characters.
Audio Specific Review: Luke Daniels hit it out of the park. I think I am officially a fan girl!
Final Thought: I recommend this series to Paranormal Mystery Readers--it only has a bit of romance (that is not the focus).
Overall Rating: 4.25
Story Rating: 4.00
Character Rating: 4.50
Audio Rating(Not part of the overall rating): 4.50
First thought when finished: I am really enjoying the Krewe of Hunters! Plus, this one is set in New Orleans!
What I Loved: Anytime you even hint that you are going to have historic re-enactments tied in with a murder mystery--you pretty much have me interested. I love that Heart of Evil weaves in historic events with a present day murder investigation. Throw in the hot chemistry between Jake and Ashley and a very fun cast of characters, this was just a downright good read!!
What I Liked: The Donegal Plantation was a great setting for Heart of Evil. It had ghosts, graveyard, swamp, and a vastness that made you feel like you had stepped back in time. I felt like the plantation itself was a character in the story. I loved Grandpa and M. Donegal--both were strong men and great characters.
Audio Specific Review: Luke Daniels hit it out of the park. I think I am officially a fan girl!
Final Thought: I recommend this series to Paranormal Mystery Readers--it only has a bit of romance (that is not the focus).
firefox_83's review against another edition
3.0
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book. It’s an intriguing storyline, but there were several parts that were just nonsense. I liked that the ghosts were involved more in this book than they were in Phantom Evil. The ending was so rushed it left me more irritated than anything.
Ashley runs a plantation that does civil war re-enactments and one of the actors gets murdered. She starts seeing ghosts of her ancestors. The ghost of Marshall Donegal is some sort of comedian, he tells her he’s a powerful ghost who can protect her, but when she needs to be saved his great and powerful ghost sword goes right through her kidnapper. Surprise, surprise. So much for his protection.
When she goes missing Jake starts barking commands (I thought Jackson was the unit leader??????).
Unable to fight her attacker, Ashley gets placed in a tomb, but while Jake and the killer are fighting she’s able to push the cement slab off the tomb and “rise” (that’s literally how Heather Graham describes it in the book.) She can’t fight the attacker to save her life, but she has the strength to move a cement slab. Okay. Jake stops fighting the killer to try to help her out and you guessed it he gets hit from behind. Grandpa saves them by shooting the killer and Ashley says, “you go, Grampa!” And then she collapsed in Jake’s arms. And that’s how the book ends. Probably the corniest ending to any book I’ve ever read.
Ashley runs a plantation that does civil war re-enactments and one of the actors gets murdered. She starts seeing ghosts of her ancestors. The ghost of Marshall Donegal is some sort of comedian, he tells her he’s a powerful ghost who can protect her, but when she needs to be saved his great and powerful ghost sword goes right through her kidnapper. Surprise, surprise. So much for his protection.
When she goes missing Jake starts barking commands (I thought Jackson was the unit leader??????).
Unable to fight her attacker, Ashley gets placed in a tomb, but while Jake and the killer are fighting she’s able to push the cement slab off the tomb and “rise” (that’s literally how Heather Graham describes it in the book.) She can’t fight the attacker to save her life, but she has the strength to move a cement slab. Okay. Jake stops fighting the killer to try to help her out and you guessed it he gets hit from behind. Grandpa saves them by shooting the killer and Ashley says, “you go, Grampa!” And then she collapsed in Jake’s arms. And that’s how the book ends. Probably the corniest ending to any book I’ve ever read.
sinadria's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
catladylover94's review against another edition
5.0
loved the second book, did not figure out the killer until almost the last of the book, was awesome
salene27's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the historical aspects of this book, and HG did a great job as always of discribing the landscape that I felt like I was there. I like the hero, Jake, but the heroine severly got on my nerves, so many times she went rushing into situations that were not believable.
readwithchey's review against another edition
3.0
What I liked: the paranormal elements, Civil War backdrop/history, the characters, and the narrator.
What I disliked: the 40,000 characters.
I enjoyed this audiobook in the context that it was a nice, comforting listen while I did chores and my puzzle, etc. It was nice it see the team again and I loved all the Civil War aspects (I grew up going to Gettysburg like once a year). However, there were literally SO many side characters I had trouble remembering/distinguishing them all. It made it a little confusing. Also, this book was very slow to start, which was fine BUT not as fun right off the bat.
I would call this a good mix of her novels Deadly Night and Ghost Shadow. Not my favorite, but I still enjoyed listening.
What I disliked: the 40,000 characters.
I enjoyed this audiobook in the context that it was a nice, comforting listen while I did chores and my puzzle, etc. It was nice it see the team again and I loved all the Civil War aspects (I grew up going to Gettysburg like once a year). However, there were literally SO many side characters I had trouble remembering/distinguishing them all. It made it a little confusing. Also, this book was very slow to start, which was fine BUT not as fun right off the bat.
I would call this a good mix of her novels Deadly Night and Ghost Shadow. Not my favorite, but I still enjoyed listening.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
3.0
Before Reading: Damnit! I picked this one up and clearly inside the front cover it says "The chilling Krewe of Hunters trilogy..." and below it shows pictures of the covers of 3 books: Heart of Evil (Available Now), Sacred Evil (On sale August 2011), and The Evil Inside (On sale September 2011). Last time I checked, a trilogy meant 3 books. So why is it that Heart of Evil is listed as the second in this series and there's yet another book listed as first here? And since Graham's on Goodreads, wouldn't you think the info here would be correct? Grrrrr!! This isn't starting out well.
After Reading: This was an okay book. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. It seemed to drag along a lot. I found it off to believe that Ashley would tell one of Jake's friends that she was seeing her ancestor's ghost before she told Jake. She seemed to wrestle with it and then just popped it out one day. Once you actually get the scene where the suspects are interviewed instead of just hearing about how they're interviewed, it's quite obvious who the killer is. Meh. With the fuck up on the inside cover and the mediocre content of the book, I won't be reading any more of these. Meh.
After Reading: This was an okay book. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. It seemed to drag along a lot. I found it off to believe that Ashley would tell one of Jake's friends that she was seeing her ancestor's ghost before she told Jake. She seemed to wrestle with it and then just popped it out one day. Once you actually get the scene where the suspects are interviewed instead of just hearing about how they're interviewed, it's quite obvious who the killer is. Meh. With the fuck up on the inside cover and the mediocre content of the book, I won't be reading any more of these. Meh.
robbie81's review against another edition
4.0
not as interesting as the first but it did have civil war history so I liked it a lot